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Appeals update: DIY and Ironman

Appeals update: DIY and Ironman

Our editors were looking for evidence earlier than 1955 for DIY (meaning do it yourself). ‘Hugo’ provided an example from a year earlier, from an Australian newspaper:

One of the most useful tools now helping to popularise ‘D.-I.-Y.’ is the Black & Decker All Purpose Unit.

1954 Argus (Melbourne) 5 Nov. 9/1 (advt.)

This was a one-year antedating of the entry, but it was 15 years earlier than the noun branch (previously from 1978, in a quote from Iris Murdoch). The entry, which is currently in revision, will be restructured to show that the noun is earlier than the adjective.

We previously reported a four-month antedating of our entry for Ironman (a type of triathlon) supplied by Garson O’Toole (January 1979). Another contributor, Dr John Bailiff, suggested we investigate the Honolulu Advertiser from October 1978. One of the OED’s indefatigable library researchers went on the case, and though he did not find the word in October, he ultimately discovered an example from February of that year:

1978 Honolulu Advertiser 10 Feb. p. F1

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